STM publisher Elsevier has reportedly asked the editor-in-chief of the journal Medical Hypotheses to immediately step down or implement a series of changes in his editorial policy, including introducing a system of peer-review. Medical Hypotheses is currently the only Elsevier journal that does not have a system of peer-review. The editor-in-chief decides what gets published, and the manuscripts are edited only very lightly, according to media reports.
An external advisory board convened by Elsevier has recommended the immediate setting up of a peer-review system. It has also suggested that articles pertaining to controversial subjects - such as those that support racism - should not be considered for publication.
Medical Hypotheses faced criticism after AIDS researchers protested about an article by AIDS denialist Peter Duesberg. The paper, previously rejected by the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, asserts that HIV does not cause AIDS and that medical statistics and demographical data do not support the existence of a massive AIDS epidemic in South Africa.
Bruce Charlton, the journal's editor-in-chief, has said that the editorial advisory board, as well as at least 150 scientists who have published in the journal, have "vehemently opposed" the changes. Elsevier has given him until March 15 to respond. The company has also said that it will not renew Charlton’s contract, which expires at the end of 2010.
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